Bitcoin price falls to it’s lowest level since the beginning of the year as a cryptocurrency-wide market rout continues to cause pain for holders of bitcoin, ethereum, Ripple’s XRP and other major digital tokens.

The bitcoin price fell to a low of $3,563 earlier today, down around 6% over the last 24 hours according to the CoinDesk bitcoin price tracker, before rebounding slightly. Earlier in the week, a bounce in the bitcoin price had led some to speculate the worst was coming to an end for the bitcoin and cryptocurrency market.

Bitcoin is down some 80% from its all-time highs at the end of 2017, a drop which has dragged many other coins down as much if not more, as investors worry long-expected institutional investment in the sector will fail to materialize. The latest downturn follows a report of Bloomberg analysis of technical data that suggests the bitcoin price could be heading into a “negative pattern.”

The Average Directional Index (ADX) a technical indicator that rises as negative selling trends strengthen, is at its highest level since July, Bloomberg reported. The ADX is currently around 47 and if it crosses 50 it will be the first time it does so this year in a negative pattern, according to Bloomberg.

“There’s little to prevent fading Bitcoin prices from reaching the continuous mean of $1,500,” wrote Bloomberg analyst Mike McGlone in a note, indicating a drop of 60% from bitcoin’s current price.

The bitcoin sell-off, which has been labeled crypto winter, was sparked by a so-called hard fork in the bitcoin cash cryptocurrency after developers and miners failed to agree on updates to the coin’s network.

The bitcoin price appeared be rebounding yesterday before taking a dive today. (coindesk)

The ensuing computer power war, which turned nasty as the two camps struggled for control of the bitcoin rival, resulted in many cashing out of the bitcoin and cryptocurrency holdings, afraid major holders could be about to abandon their positions to hurt one another.

“We’re at a classic psychological stage where the market is reversing the 2017 frenzy,” said McGlone in an interview with the newswire’s TV station. “The hard fork was a key trigger that signaled the technology is way too nascent. You had these dicey characters threatening to destroy each other and institutions said ‘It might be best if we stay away from this for a while.”

After months of relative stability, bitcoin volatility exploded in November, with bitcoin recording its steepest monthly plunge in seven years and sparking speculation the bitcoin experiment could be coming to an end.

Adding to bitcoin’s woes the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has cracked down on the crypto space, in recent weeks, fining two companies last month that hadn’t registered their initial coin offerings as securities.

Last week, the head of the SEC said that concern over a lack of investor protections means he is minded not to approve a closely-watched bitcoin exchange-traded fund application. A decision from the SEC is expected at the end of December.

Elsewhere, other major cryptocurrencies also took a beating. Ripple, the informal name for the XRP token, is down some 5% over the last 24 hours, while ethereum is off by almost 9% and stellar is down 10%.

Bitcoin cash, which was the subject of a hard fork and hash war last month, led the sell-off today. (coinmarketcap)

Meanwhile, Miami-based blockchain and telecoms company UnitedCorp has launched a lawsuit against bitcoin mining company Bitmain, website bitcoin.com, Roger Ver, who runs the bitcoin.com website, and the Kraken bitcoin exchange over what it calls a “scheme” to take control of bitcoin cash for “personal gain.”

According to eToro senior market analyst Mati Greenspan, bitcoin is in amidst a parabolic bull cycle and is on track to sustain its strong momentum over the medium to long term.

Since January, within less than six months, the bitcoin price has increased by nearly 100 percent against the U.S. dollar.

With a 98% gain year-to-date, bitcoin has outperformed most assets in 2019
(source: coinmarketcap.com)

Still, despite its large short-term rally, Greenspan noted that the dominant cryptocurrency is only at the start of a bigger cycle that may lead to new highs for the asset.

WHY INDUSTRY EXECUTIVES ARE SO OPTIMISTIC IN BITCOIN

In December 2018, the bitcoin price dropped to its lowest yearly point at $3,150. At the time, even though the industry had demonstrated significant progress in improving the infrastructure supporting the asset class, the sentiment around…

World’s third largest cryptocurrency Ripple (XRP) has appreciated up to 31-percent against the US dollar in just two days.

The XRP-to-dollar exchange rate Tuesday established an intraday high towards $0.405, up 25.05% since the market open on Luxembourg-based Bitstamp exchange. The pair dropped as much as 5.05-percent ahead of the European session to neutralize its overbought sentiments, finding interim support at $0.384-level.

RIPPLE (XRP) SURGES 25% IN A DAY | SOURCE: TRADINGVIEW.COM, BITSTAMP

The sentiment was the same across the rest of the cryptocurrency index, with almost all the leading cryptocurrency posting surplus intraday gains. Bitcoin (BTC), for instance, extended its rally action to establish a new 2019 peak towards $8,836.19. Ethereum, EOS, and Bitcoin Cash too recorded double-digit percentage gains on a 24-hour adjusted timeframe.

Share your thoughts and views on this interview by commenting below

Facebook, the largest social media giant, made news after it announced that it would launch its own cryptocurrency, Facebook Coin. It was also rumoured that Facebook was looking out for VC firms to invest in their cryptocurrency project, with the targeted sum being “as much as $1 billion.”

Now, according to an official announcement, Facebook is going to lift its ban on cryptocurrency and blockchain related ads on its platform.

The facebook statement read :

“Starting 5 June, we will update our Prohibited Financial Products and Services Policy to no longer allow ads promoting contracts for difference [CFDs], complex financial products that are often associated with predatory behaviour. These products, due to their complexity, often mislead people.”

Facebook had implemented the ban on cryptocurrency ads and promotional campaigns related to blockchains and ICOs back in January 2018. It was believed that the ban was to tackle concerns…

Craig Wright, a man who, as WIRED wrote about back in 2016, either created Bitcoin or very badly wants someone to believe he did.

Now rumours are swirling through the Bitcoin world that Wright himself is poised to publicly claim—and possibly offer some sort of proof—that he really is Satoshi Nakamoto, the mysterious inventor of Bitcoin. If he does, he’ll have to convince a highly skeptical cryptography community for whom “proof” is a serious word, and one that requires cryptographic levels of certainty.

The suggestion is that Wright, an Australian cryptographer and security professional, has arranged to perform a demonstration for media in London sometime in the next week that’s intended to convince the world he’s bitcoin’s creator.1 Luckily for any legitimate claimant to the Satoshi throne—and for bitcoiners tired of the long succession of unproven candidates and speculation—there are some clear, almost incontrovertible ways for Satoshi Nakamoto to prove himself. When…